Rick ran off, out of sight. Will he call the police on him, or something? Maybe get back at him? Anxiety was creeping up on Fred.

"Rick won"t bother you again."

Fred was annoyed. Mysteriously, the knife was gone from his hand. He didn"t know when it disappeared.

"You cut the ties between you and him. Don"t worry."

"Will he stay out of jail? I can"t believe I helped him out."

"It was nice of you, sure. And yes, he"ll stay out of trouble now. In fact, he"ll stop dealing soon. He"ll get a job in construction, and settle down with some girl. They"ll have kids, all dumb as a rock, but the kids will grow up in a loving home. Rick will be fine, with ups and downs, and he"ll die in his sleep, old and happy."

Fred burst out laughing. "It"s funny how you summed up a person"s life like that."

"He"s just some guy, and there"s plenty of them. You were like that, too. One of many, drifting alongside rules and norms, just human life in a society."

Fred frowned. "But I"m different now."

"Yes, but the strings that bind you to your destiny are many, and you"re more alike to Rick than you"d like to think, in more ways than one. But rest a.s.sured, that"ll change, and quickly."

Fred nodded. He spent the day in the park, sometimes walking around, then sitting down here and there. It was the same park, but Fred saw it from different positions, and each of them showed Fred a different view. There weren"t many people at the park, an old lady here, a girl walking her dog over there. Fred let his thoughts quiet down, and just let himself be just a guy at a park.

The sun was setting. Fred was hungry. He went to the deli that he used to avoid to avoid Rick. He got himself a sandwich and a soda.

He went back home, to his room. His parents were still at work. He took a bite out of the sandwich. It was delicious. He thought how he had almost killed himself, robbing him of this moment. Fred ate it faster, until it was gone inside his stomach, and he washed down the soda.

Then, he opened up the internet browser, and searched for a job.